U.S. Forest ServiceSkiing deep powder at the Summit at Snoqualmie last winter.

Venerable Snoqualmie Pass, the freeway-served ski mecca 50 miles east of Seattle, has the most to brag about this year regarding new facilities in Region 6 (Oregon and Washington) of the U.S. Forest Service.

The Summit at Snoqualmie, a collection of four ski areas that act as one, installed a $4.5 million high-speed quad lift at Snoqualmie Central, replacing the Silver Fir triple lift.

This gives Snoqualmie two high-speed lifts at what used to be called Ski Acres and one at Alpental. The other ski areas used to be called Snoqualmie Summit and Hyak.

The former Snoqualmis Pass ski area is is now called Summit West, Ski Acres is Summit Central and Hyak is Summit East. They have interconnecting trails on the south side of I-90. Alpental is still Alpental, a stand-alone ski area north of the freway but connected by bus and skiable on the same lift ticket.

While Snoqualmie is rarely thought of as a ski vacation destination for Portlanders, a lot of Oregonians undoubtedly wind up spending a day there while visiting friends and family in the Puget Sound area. Alpental, in particular, is known for its challenging terrain that developed an Olympic champion (Debbie Armstrong, 1984 giant slalom).

Seattle TimesSnoqualmie is one place that can handle a crowd.

With a pass level of 2,900 feet, weather and snow conditions are always a bit iffy at Snoqualmie. But last year was a banner winter, with 733,630 ticketed guests, by far the most of any ski resort in Oregon or Washington. During its first 70 years, Snoqualmie has likely taught more people to ski and snowboard than any other destination in the West.

Mt. Hood Meadows led Oregon with 509,001 tickets sold last season, surpassing Mt. Bachelor (489,242) for the first time as Oregon's busiest ski area.

The Snoqualmie ski areas also added night lighting on 25 new run and 9.8 acres of
parking. The resort began planning for a year-round mountain-top restaurant at Summit Central (the old Ski Acres). Construction may begin next summer.

The master development plan for the Summit at Snoqualmie has been approved by the Mt. Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest. This is the final step in the National Environmental Policy Act process that began with an initial public comment period on a master plan proposed by the ski area.

Wildlife habitat concerns, crowding, transportation and skier distribution were some of the issues identified in those comments. These issues drove a range of alternatives that were analyzed in the environmental impact statement. The ski area is donating 390 acres to the Forest Service to improve wildlife habitat. The public can view and download the plan at: http://www.fs.fed.us/r6/mbs/projects/summit-at-snoqualmie/.

The trail map at Snoqualmie Summit Central, with the new Silver Fir chairlift on the left.